All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
Ten years ago today, Tony Blair’s ban on hunting with dogs came into force. Rural communities had marched, Otis Ferry had stormed the Commons, but none of it made any difference, and anti-hunt campaigners rejoiced when hunting became a banned sport. But though the law has been in place for a decade, the fight for hunting
No party knows how to break out of the war of attrition that is British politics at the moment. Neither the Tories nor Labour are expecting to hit 40 percent in May. Instead, they are both trying to work out how to win with a vote share in the 30s. The Good Right, Tim Montgomerie
Owen Jones writes in the Guardian today on the subject of trans rights, making a revealing statement in the process. He says: ‘In truth, debates over the latest scientific research are of little interest to me: what matters is that the happiness, security and even lives of a minority are at stake, and all too little
Opponents of plain packaging for cigarettes are trying to work out how to derail the vote in the Commons introducing the law, Coffee House has learned. There is considerable frustration in the party that plain packaging is being introduced so close to the election, as MPs feel it is a distraction from the campaign. Other
Today marks ten years of a ban on hunting a wild mammal with hounds in England and Wales, except under certain exemptions. To understand what a fundamentally bad law the Hunting Act is, and why it must be repealed, it is best to start at the beginning with the original purpose of the ban. For
The Conservatives held a Black and White Tie Ball earlier this month to raise funds for their election campaign, while Ukip are reported to have recently taken a princely sum from Richard Desmond. As for Al Murray, and his Freedom United Kingdom Party, the comedian has resorted to more humble methods to muster precious campaign funds. The Pub Landlord, who
Britain has reached its highest ever level of employment. According to new figures from the ONS, the employment rate has risen to 73.2 per cent — or close to 31 million people in work. This stands as the joint highest rate since records began in 1971. Unemployment is down to 1.86 million. The short-term jobless
This is an extract from this week’s magazine, available from tomorrow Just three months into Ukip’s shock victory as the party of government and already Nigel Farage’s mob are starting to show their true colours: morris dancing has been made compulsory for every able-bodied male between the age of 30 and 85; in ruthlessly enforced
Here are some observations from the ‘incendiary’ letter from the House of Bishops that has upset the Tories so much. ‘Our electoral system often means that the outcomes turn on a very small group of people within the overall electorate. Greater social mobility and the erosion of old loyalties to place or class mean that
Conventional wisdom suggests that Islamic State and its affiliates have mastered social media. Yet the group’s real talent lies in dominating the traditional media cycle and using sensational violence to goad its enemies into overreactions. Hours after Isis released one of its more gruesome videos showing the beheading of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians on the shores of Sirte, Egyptian fighter
From ‘The Finance of the War’, The Spectator, 20 February 1915: According to Mr. Lloyd George’s estimate, the three Allied Powers together will have expended on war purposes by December 31st next something like £2,000,000,000. British expenditure, he estimates, will exceed that of each of the other two Powers by something between £100,000,000 and £150,000,000.
It’s suddenly gone icy-cold in Russia’s arts relations with us and the US. Last year’s Russia-UK Year of Culture just snicked under the wire before the political chill started building up ice in all sorts of unexpected places. The international acclaim for the epic Russian film Leviathan, up for a Best Foreign Film Oscar, was
Well, this is awkward. Peter Oborne is a friend and The Spectator shares a proprietor with The Daily Telegraph. So there is a danger that anything written in this space will seem craven or kowtowing. Nevertheless, Peter, late of this parish and now late of the Telegraph too, has performed a public service today by resigning his post
Labour’s decision to shy away from an EU referendum has cost it a senior figure. The Telegraph reveals that Harriet Yeo, the former chairman of Labour’s National Executive Committee between 2012 and 2013, has quit the party over Ed Miliband’s refusal to offer a referendum. Although she hasn’t joined Ukip, she will be lending her support
Presumably as a way of getting out of an endless debate about receipts, Ed Balls has issued a letter with some detailed questions about tax evasion and HSBC (as opposed to tax avoidance and window cleaners). The letter asks three questions: 1. Why has there only been one prosecution out of 1,100 names? Was the
Jon Snow previously investigated the effects of taking ecstasy in a Channel 4 documentary. Now, in the interests of investigative journalism, the newsreader has been filmed taking skunk for a follow-up programme. Although Snow could not remember being filmed at the time, he has now written a blog detailing the identity crisis that occurred after he inhaled the strong strain of cannabis. ‘I knew
Inflation fell to 0.3 per cent in January, the lowest level since records began in 1989. As the above chart shows, the government’s target of two per cent CPI inflation is now a long way off. The ONS has attributed the slow down to falling fuel and food prices — the latter is thanks to the
Veterans of Eurozone crisis summits, hoping for another nail-biting drama, had queued to get ringside seats. But yesterday’s meeting over Greece with Eurozone Finance Ministers ended without result. And you shouldn’t be surprised. We’ve been here many times before – Eurozone committees keep minutes but lose hours – and this was not a meeting during which decisions
What would happen if Britain left the EU later this year? According to Channel 4, the country would descend into riots and anarchy. Last night’s one-off drama Ukip: The First 100 Days offered a dystopian vision (complete with Beethoven’s 7th symphony) of the implausible situation where Ukip is victorious in May’s election. A landslide victory makes
“There’s a lot we need to do in this party of ours. Our base is too narrow and so, occasionally, are our sympathies. You know what some people call us – the nasty party.” Theresa May, October 8th 2002. February 17th 2015, David Cameron announces plans to make 50,000 youths spend 30 hours a week
Question: Is abortion on gender grounds illegal in the UK? Answer: yes and no and maybe – depends who you ask. Ask Britain’s biggest abortion provider, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, and they will tell you that the law is ‘silent on the matter’. Try the British Medical Association and they’ll say that it may be
Well, those tax attacks worked out well, didn’t they? Tax avoidance is on the front pages of the newspapers, but not in a way that benefits either main political party. Even though George Osborne’s guide to minimising your tax bill has gone viral, Labour isn’t benefitting because it has ended up talking about receipts for
After Cathy Newman falsely tweeted that she had been ‘ushered’ out of a mosque on an open day, she made a public apology and said that she was planning to to take a break from Twitter. This break appears to also stretch to parliamentary pancake races. The Channel 4 presenter’s absence was notable at today’s Rehab Parliamentary Pancake Race. Newman had previously
Are we now closer to Grexit? Tonight’s talks between eurozone finance ministers broke up after a few hours with Greece slamming the draft statement prepared by the group as ‘unacceptable’ and ‘unreasonable’. That statement was leaked by the Greek camp while the talks were happening, which can’t have helped the atmosphere in the room. The
One consequence of Islamic State’s barbarity is that we know relatively little about it. This is what makes Graeme Wood’s piece about it in the Atlantic, based on extensive conversations with its theological supporters, so interesting. The mind-set of Islamic State is well illustrated by this discussion from its official magazine that Wood cites: ‘In
The implosion of Iraq and the durability of Islamic State will be major headaches for new ministers in May. Their required reading should include recent and substantial reports from the foreign affairs and defence select committees, respectively on UK policy towards Kurdistan and the response to Isis. My reading of the stark picture painted by these
Ed Miliband appears to have found some safe ground for his party this week, attacking the Tories whenever he can over tax avoidance claims. If he plans to continue on this note, Mr S suggests that he picks his words with more care in the future. Speaking at the Welsh Labour conference on Saturday about his plan to launch an
As well as keeping the tax avoidance row going for as long as possible (something that is worrying Tories, who think their party needs to find a way of moving the conversation on from a toxic issue as quickly as possible), Ed Miliband also unveiled a potential new campaign message at his speech today. He
Former First Minister Alex Salmond has backed Steerpike’s campaign to overturn the US haggis import ban, gleefully admitting it ‘looks like we might be getting somewhere.’ Welcoming last week’s developments, that saw Tory chairman Grant Shapps promise to make haggis a key part of the UK negotiations around the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, Salmond
Can I write an entire blog post about one sentence? I’d certainly like to. The sentence in question is ‘The potent form of the drug, known as ‘skunk’, is so powerful that users are three times more likely to suffer a psychotic episode than those who have never tried it.’ It’s from a piece in
Are the Tories beginning to edge ahead of Labour in the polls? ICM have released their latest monthly poll, which suggests a surge in support for the Conservatives. Since their last poll in January, the Tories have gained six points according to ICM, putting them four points ahead. Labour are on 32 per cent, down one point from
Mr S witnessed an awkward moment for Harriet Harman before the microphones were switched on for Friday night’s episode of Any Questions. During the off-air warm-up at BBC’s Broadcasting House, Labour’s deputy leader took umbrage with the fact that her water bottle had a pink lid, jumping to the conclusion that it was a dig about her
The Labour vs. Conservative battle of economic plans is heating up. Ed Miliband is launching a 79-page Better Plan for Britain’s Prosperity today, which appears to be his latest alternative on the Conservatives’ robotic chants of a ‘long-term economic plan’ for ‘hardworking families’. But this isn’t the first time they have launched their plan for
Nigel Farage wrote in the Spectator of his struggle to complete Dry January, while Jean-Claude Juncker is reported to be partial to a glass of cognac to kick start the day. So it came as little surprise to Mr Steerpike that the leader of Ukip named the President of the European Commission as his preferred drinking partner. Asked